Disney Dream - June 12, 2011

[bairdbeth]

We are back from hot, hot, hot Orlando(actually been home about a week, but first time I could post) We did Sea World on June 5th and while it was hot (heat index around 104) crowds were low. We then went to DHS for Star Wars weekend on June 6th. Still extremely hot and the park was extremely crowded! We did Hoop Dee Do that night for the first time and loved it. Taylor then went to Sea World residential camp for a week, while I stayed at a nice, cheap condo at Windsor Hills. She absolutely loved the camp. I picked her up at 9 am on June 12th and we checked into the Poly. We usually stay at a value resort, but got a great deal at the Poly. I see why people spend big bucks to stay here. The transportation options are great! The resort is laid back and the view of the fireworks from the beach is phenomenal! The parks were crowded, but not unmanageable except for the DHS, when we went back to do more Star Wars stuff on June 13th, but we used our GAD vouchers to get fastpasses and rode Toy Story Mania 2 times with minimal wait (line said 60 minutes first time and 120 minutes the second time) So glad we volunteered! We can now look forward to planning for our cruise and can't wait! Not sure we will do parks next summer as the heat was intense this year. The heat index ranged from 100 to 112 every day with no rain to cool things off. I think we will start to go to WDW over Thanksgiving or President's week. I can deal with crowds better when it is cooler!

 

[nanceliz]

Yes, I remember the heat and the humidity of June. We went to Disney this last thanksgiving and it made me never want to go in the summer again. The crowds weren't bad (except friday and Saturday after thanksgiving) and the weather was amazing!! I think the next trip we take just to Disney will be the early part of Dec (2nd week) since the next time my youngest will be in college.

 

[tamu91]

Booked this cruise while sailing on Wonder couple of weeks ago. All the inside and ocean view cabins are sold out so we booked the lowest available cabin (05C) hoping to snag a deluxe family oceanview stateroom between now and next June
Anyone had any luck snagging an inside or oceanview stateroom lately?

 

[PixieTl]

Welcome Tam! i've not heard of anyone being able to book any inside rooms lately, there are not that many to begin with so it makes it that much harder!!

How's everyone's summer so far? I usually look forward to summer as being a slower time, but so far nothing even close to slowing down! lol So far we done volleyball camp, girl scout day camp, summer volleyball has started up, and sent one boy off to camp for 10 days and have another boy to pack up to send to camp on sunday! still looking for my 'float in the pool' day!

 

[PixieTl]

So many folks from the South, are most of you driving? It is about a 10 hour haul for us. Our last cruise we drove, got past Jacksonville and got a hotel room. We had about a 2 hour drive the next morning. Our crew was so excited we got up so early that we were are the port by 9:30 and had to wait for them to open the parking lot! We flew on our first Disney cruise in 2007, we had two FF tickets and paid for the other two. So much has changed in the airline industry I don't think I would ever fly to Orlando again.

We fly from DFW, we are hoping by the next summer that Southwest will be fully participating in ME so we can take them! it's just too long of a drive, we got a good deal from airtran last time, but they kept moving our flight times around, it was annoying, but at least they didn't loose the luggage!

 

[MLLynch]

Are there any runners on this cruise? I was hoping to gather a group to do morning runs (5AM) on the jogging deck. I thought it would be a fun way to get to know each other.

Michele

 

[Walt & Di]

Booked this cruise while sailing on Wonder couple of weeks ago. All the inside and ocean view cabins are sold out so we booked the lowest available cabin (05C) hoping to snag a deluxe family oceanview stateroom between now and next June
Anyone had any luck snagging an inside or oceanview stateroom lately?

We were on the Wonder a couple weeks ago too. Had a great time with grandkids and daughters. I see you are an Aggie. My daughter is an Aggie too. She graduated. 2001 GigEm Oh yeh, I have some great cruising friends on this cruise. Hope you get to meet them. They are the bestest friends.

 

[Crystal_27]

Booked this cruise while sailing on Wonder couple of weeks ago. All the inside and ocean view cabins are sold out so we booked the lowest available cabin (05C) hoping to snag a deluxe family oceanview stateroom between now and next June
Anyone had any luck snagging an inside or oceanview stateroom lately?

Welcome!! I got you added to the first page. As to booking a lower category, I think that your best chance is going to be around the 90/75 day "final payment" period when people start really deciding if this is the cruise they want to be on. Good luck with getting what you want.

Are there any runners on this cruise? I was hoping to gather a group to do morning runs (5AM) on the jogging deck. I thought it would be a fun way to get to know each other.

Michele

Michele, while I definitely admire and appreciate your enthusiasm, I will have to pass on (1) getting up at 5:00 a.m.; and (ii) doing actual exercise while on vacation. But, I'll be cheering you guys on in spirit!

 

[tamu91]

Thanks for the welcomes and Gig'em to all my Aggie buddies out there.

MLLynch - I'm a jogger but not a get up at 5:00am kind. I ran the 5K jog at Castaway couple of weeks ago and that was brutal. It was soooooo hot and I'm from Texas.

Crystal_27 - Thanks for the heads up about the final payment window. I've been able to come down from 05A to 05C and we're not talking big savings yet but every bit helps these days. I really want to get into a Category 8 room so I'll keep checking.

I look forward to all the planning between now and next June

 

[Scouter]

Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Thanks!
I'm going to check out that night tour

 

[Scouter]

We are back from hot, hot, hot Orlando(actually been home about a week, but first time I could post) We did Sea World on June 5th and while it was hot (heat index around 104) crowds were low. We then went to DHS for Star Wars weekend on June 6th. Still extremely hot and the park was extremely crowded! We did Hoop Dee Do that night for the first time and loved it. Taylor then went to Sea World residential camp for a week, while I stayed at a nice, cheap condo at Windsor Hills. She absolutely loved the camp. I picked her up at 9 am on June 12th and we checked into the Poly. We usually stay at a value resort, but got a great deal at the Poly. I see why people spend big bucks to stay here. The transportation options are great! The resort is laid back and the view of the fireworks from the beach is phenomenal! The parks were crowded, but not unmanageable except for the DHS, when we went back to do more Star Wars stuff on June 13th, but we used our GAD vouchers to get fastpasses and rode Toy Story Mania 2 times with minimal wait (line said 60 minutes first time and 120 minutes the second time) So glad we volunteered! We can now look forward to planning for our cruise and can't wait! Not sure we will do parks next summer as the heat was intense this year. The heat index ranged from 100 to 112 every day with no rain to cool things off. I think we will start to go to WDW over Thanksgiving or President's week. I can deal with crowds better when it is cooler!

Nice!
I've never stayed at Poly either, but I can see why people would.... I would
too, if I had extra money, which I usually don't.

I've never done Toy Story mania, what park is that in?
It's not the same as the space ranger spin is it?

 

[Scouter]

We were on the Wonder a couple weeks ago too. Had a great time with grandkids and daughters. I see you are an Aggie. My daughter is an Aggie too. She graduated. 2001 GigEm Oh yeh, I have some great cruising friends on this cruise. Hope you get to meet them. They are the bestest friends.

Hi Walt!

For a moment I thought I was on the Bob'er thread, then I thought perhaps you had booked this cruise......

alas, I was wrong

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Thanks!
I'm going to check out that night tour

This is the one we did....Old Town Trolley Tours
http://www.trolleytours.com/

And I have to agree with Crystal about the morning run! Not getting up at 5am, especially to run! Maybe to catch the sunrise might be nice, but then I can crawl back in bed! I raise my cup of coffee to you though!

 

[abitagirl916]

This is the one we did....Old Town Trolley Tours
http://www.trolleytours.com/

And I have to agree with Crystal about the morning run! Not getting up at 5am, especially to run! Maybe to catch the sunrise might be nice, but then I can crawl back in bed! I raise my cup of coffee to you though!

I totally agree!!! The only thing that gets me up at 5am is work. On the weekends, and most certainly on vacation, I'll be sleeping until at least 7am (maybe later depending on which day of the cruise it is)!! Looking forward to being woken up by room service calling me to let me know my coffee is on its way! I so enjoyed that on my Disney Magic cruise a few years ago.

Getting more and more excited now that we are less than 1 year away!

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

I totally agree!!! The only thing that gets me up at 5am is work. On the weekends, and most certainly on vacation, I'll be sleeping until at least 7am (maybe later depending on which day of the cruise it is)!! Looking forward to being woken up by room service calling me to let me know my coffee is on its way! I so enjoyed that on my Disney Magic cruise a few years ago.

Getting more and more excited now that we are less than 1 year away!

We are getting excited too! Now that this years vacation is over (booo!) we can focus on next year! (Yay!) Steve already put in for his vacation, so as of now we'll be driving to FL on Thursday, staying at a cheap hotel. Early check in at a USO hotel on Friday, hopefully The Hard Rock, do the USO parks on Friday and Saturday, Check into a port hotel on Saturday night. Cruise Sun-Fri. Check into WDW hotel for Fri, Sat, Sun, drive home Monday. Now to decide on a WDW hotel! Do I go frugal and stay at POP Century....loved it! or do I go all out and stay on the monorail for ease of going to the parks?? We've stayed at the Contemporary and the Poly. We've never stayed at The Grand Floridian. I have always wanted to stay there, and honestly, by the time we cruise, we'll have made our last payment to our credit debt, sooooo, it might be a nice splurge and a congrats for working so hard to get there! I told Connor (13years old) that we should stay there. He asked me to show him the hotel online. His eyes got big and he said, "How....much....pot....are...you...smokin'?" ROFL!! I said, "What? Why?" He said, "That's only THE most expensive hotel on Disney property!" LOL I said, "Ok, maybe not, maybe we could go back to the Poly" He liked that idea! Now to convince Steve! Oh, but the Contemporary has been overhauled...hhhmmm.....maybe that would be nice too! Decisions.....

 

[marcij]

We are getting excited too! Now that this years vacation is over (booo!) we can focus on next year! (Yay!) Steve already put in for his vacation, so as of now we'll be driving to FL on Thursday, staying at a cheap hotel. Early check in at a USO hotel on Friday, hopefully The Hard Rock, do the USO parks on Friday and Saturday, Check into a port hotel on Saturday night. Cruise Sun-Fri. Check into WDW hotel for Fri, Sat, Sun, drive home Monday. Now to decide on a WDW hotel! Do I go frugal and stay at POP Century....loved it! or do I go all out and stay on the monorail for ease of going to the parks?? We've stayed at the Contemporary and the Poly. We've never stayed at The Grand Floridian. I have always wanted to stay there, and honestly, by the time we cruise, we'll have made our last payment to our credit debt, sooooo, it might be a nice splurge and a congrats for working so hard to get there! I told Connor (13years old) that we should stay there. He asked me to show him the hotel online. His eyes got big and he said, "How....much....pot....are...you...smokin'?" ROFL!! I said, "What? Why?" He said, "That's only THE most expensive hotel on Disney property!" LOL I said, "Ok, maybe not, maybe we could go back to the Poly" He liked that idea! Now to convince Steve! Oh, but the Contemporary has been overhauled...hhhmmm.....maybe that would be nice too! Decisions.....

I am so a GF gal! Tell your son it's not stuffy and pretentious like people say and you don't have to dress up to stay there. We've been going since my youngest was 1 1/2 and we've never had a bad experience. And, often times, it isn't but $20 or so more than the other monorail resorts. Just depends on what category you are trying to get.

 

[tamu91]

We are getting excited too! Now that this years vacation is over (booo!) we can focus on next year! (Yay!) Steve already put in for his vacation, so as of now we'll be driving to FL on Thursday, staying at a cheap hotel. Early check in at a USO hotel on Friday, hopefully The Hard Rock, do the USO parks on Friday and Saturday, Check into a port hotel on Saturday night. Cruise Sun-Fri. Check into WDW hotel for Fri, Sat, Sun, drive home Monday. Now to decide on a WDW hotel! Do I go frugal and stay at POP Century....loved it! or do I go all out and stay on the monorail for ease of going to the parks?? We've stayed at the Contemporary and the Poly. We've never stayed at The Grand Floridian. I have always wanted to stay there, and honestly, by the time we cruise, we'll have made our last payment to our credit debt, sooooo, it might be a nice splurge and a congrats for working so hard to get there! I told Connor (13years old) that we should stay there. He asked me to show him the hotel online. His eyes got big and he said, "How....much....pot....are...you...smokin'?" ROFL!! I said, "What? Why?" He said, "That's only THE most expensive hotel on Disney property!" LOL I said, "Ok, maybe not, maybe we could go back to the Poly" He liked that idea! Now to convince Steve! Oh, but the Contemporary has been overhauled...hhhmmm.....maybe that would be nice too! Decisions.....

Hi WDWCrazzyWDWCunningham - Have you thought about renting DVC points for your stay at WDW after your cruise? 3 nights at PopCentury will run you $450~$500 depending on availability. If you're using AP discounts, it would be somewhat less of course. On the other hand, if you're considering higher $ level resorts, renting DVC points will come out cheaper IMO. Some food for your thoughts You can PM me if you'd like more info.

 

[dizneycrazy4]

We were on the Wonder a couple weeks ago too. Had a great time with grandkids and daughters. I see you are an Aggie. My daughter is an Aggie too. She graduated. 2001 GigEm Oh yeh, I have some great cruising friends on this cruise. Hope you get to meet them. They are the bestest friends.

Wish you were on this cruise with us...

 

[Crystal_27]

His eyes got big and he said, "How....much....pot....are...you...smokin'?" ROFL!!

Out of the mouth of babes... Absolutely hysterical!

I am so a GF gal! Tell your son it's not stuffy and pretentious like people say and you don't have to dress up to stay there. We've been going since my youngest was 1 1/2 and we've never had a bad experience. And, often times, it isn't but $20 or so more than the other monorail resorts. Just depends on what category you are trying to get.

I would love, love, love to stay at the GF one of these days too, but, since we bought into DVC, it's difficult to justify *not* using points to stay at Disney resorts. We technically could use our DVC points to stay at the GF, but it costs about 4 times as many points to stay there (versus a regular DVC resort) and you have to pay a $95 booking fee. The saver in me just rebels at the thought... Still, for a splurge and if you can swing it, why not?

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

We are getting excited too! Now that this years vacation is over (booo!) we can focus on next year! (Yay!) Steve already put in for his vacation, so as of now we'll be driving to FL on Thursday, staying at a cheap hotel. Early check in at a USO hotel on Friday, hopefully The Hard Rock, do the USO parks on Friday and Saturday, Check into a port hotel on Saturday night. Cruise Sun-Fri. Check into WDW hotel for Fri, Sat, Sun, drive home Monday. Now to decide on a WDW hotel! Do I go frugal and stay at POP Century....loved it! or do I go all out and stay on the monorail for ease of going to the parks?? We've stayed at the Contemporary and the Poly. We've never stayed at The Grand Floridian. I have always wanted to stay there, and honestly, by the time we cruise, we'll have made our last payment to our credit debt, sooooo, it might be a nice splurge and a congrats for working so hard to get there! I told Connor (13years old) that we should stay there. He asked me to show him the hotel online. His eyes got big and he said, "How....much....pot....are...you...smokin'?" ROFL!! I said, "What? Why?" He said, "That's only THE most expensive hotel on Disney property!" LOL I said, "Ok, maybe not, maybe we could go back to the Poly" He liked that idea! Now to convince Steve! Oh, but the Contemporary has been overhauled...hhhmmm.....maybe that would be nice too! Decisions.....

We are thinking of doing USO just before the cruise as well. I have not decided if we are driving or flying. We will have to wait and see when it gets closer.